A. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to network management and more particularly, to management of interconnections between multiple chassis within a system and/or network node.
B. Background
Network nodes may contain multiple chassis that need to be properly connected in order for the node to function correctly. The chassis configuration in the node may require that certain chassis be connected within a first system and certain other chassis be connected in a second system. The connection configurations within these systems may require a certain connection topology in order to ensure that the node(s) operate appropriately. In such an environment, there is a risk that inter-chassis connections may be incorrect and damage the performance of the node and the chassis therein.
Multi-chassis systems may employ a link management protocol, such as spanning tree protocol that is known within the art. Spanning tree protocols provide path redundancy while preventing undesirable loops in the network. These undesirable loops may create duplicative, active paths between chassis within a node or between multiple nodes. As a result, these loops, within a network topology, should be properly configured to ensure that commands and messages are received at the proper destination and that these messages are not inadvertently duplicated within the topology.
Although a spanning tree protocol reduces the frequency of these undesired loops, it does not provide neighbor discovery and link level monitoring. For instance, if two multi-chassis systems are connected via an Ethernet link, there is no authentication to prevent undesired Ethernet traffic from going between the two systems.
Before any interconnect between multiple chassis is made, it is essential to ensure that connections are provided between authenticated chassis. It is crucial to discover valid chassis neighbors, which can be connected to each other by point-to-point links. Further, it is also required to make sure that there are no inappropriate pre-existing connections between the various chassis in a system or at the intra-system level. In a scenario of multiple systems, it is also required to ensure that no connection exists within chassis that does not belong to same system or node.
Oftentimes, these chassis are connected by cables that are installed by a network administrator during installation. These connections may also be changed or modified after installation. This installation and maintenance procedure creates a risk that one or more connections may be performed incorrectly. If a connection is incorrectly done, the chassis, system and/or node may not operate properly.
Authentication of these connections is typically performed by the network administrator by visually inspecting the node. If a failure in the node is detected, an administrator may need to visually check each port connection on the various chassis to identify a faulty connection and/or verify that the node is properly configured. Such a process is time consuming and may create additional incorrect connections within a node.